Advertising forms an important part of broadcast programming including broadcast video (television), radio and printed media. Payments for advertising subsidize and in some cases pay entirely for programming received by subscribers. As an example, over the air broadcast programming is provided entirely free to viewers and is essentially paid for by the advertisements placed in the shows that are watched. Even in cable television systems and satellite-based systems, the advertisements subsidize the cost of the programming and were it not for advertisements, the monthly subscription rates for the cable television would be many times higher than at present. Radio similarly offers free programming based on payments received from advertising. The low cost of newspapers and magazines is based on the subsidization of the cost of reporting, printing and distribution from the advertising revenues.
The ability to transmit information including programming and advertisements digitally allows programming and advertisements to be transported from various geographic locations and arranged in a fashion which permits an optimized program to be presented to a subscriber. Although the advent of the digital age and the Internet permits advertisements to be specifically targeted at subscribers, there are numerous difficulties in creating an infrastructure, system, and methods for delivering these targeted advertisements.
Unlike traditional video systems that offer the ability to insert ads based on technologies that identify the appropriate point of insertion in an analog video signal, insert an analog advertisement, and return to the video programming at the appropriate moment, digital video systems which are being deployed lack the ability to randomly interrupt the digitally compressed Motion Picture Expert Group (MPEG) stream, insert a random digital advertisement, and return to the video programming.
Thus, it is desirable to offer enhanced services in the digital programming stream as well as to preserve the integrity of the digital programming stream. What is required is a method and apparatus for determining the ability to insert the advertisements, managing the insertion process, inserting the advertisement into the video stream, and returning to the program.
The present invention is a method and apparatus for the insertion and transport of advertisements in a digital environment, including methods for directing advertisements (ads) at subscribers and substituting advertisements in a program stream with targeted advertisements.
In one embodiment, a method of synchronous ad insertion is presented in which ads are simultaneously placed in a digital video stream. The synchronous insertion method may be implemented using constant bit rate (CBR) or available bit rate (ABR) techniques. In another embodiment, a plesiochronous method is presented in which ads are inserted within a timing window. CBR or ABR techniques may also be used in the plesiochronous ad insertion method. In another embodiment, an asynchronous ad insertion method is presented in which an ad may be asynchronously inserted in a video stream.
An in-band channel may be used for the transport of advertisements. The in-band channel delivers the advertisements in real-time at the moment of insertion, and the ads are not pre-stored in any storage medium. In an alternative embodiment, the ads are received in an out-of-band channel and are stored in a storage medium for subsequent insertion into the program stream.
The present invention may also be used to monitor the program bandwidth and determine if an ad may be placed in that bandwidth. Generally, the ads are received in a high resolution state with minimum compression, and are compressed to a predetermined ABR bandwidth at the time of insertion.